This is the second part of our Heart Scan and is a more advanced scan that involves injection of dye into a vein in the arm and which then allows direct visualisation of the inside of your heart arteries.
This determines the exact location and severity of any atheroma; people with significant stenosis of one or more of the heart arteries have a very high chance sooner or later of having a heart attack, but which can be prevented by insertion of a stent.
The CT angiogram is unique in its ability to also visualise the so called ‘soft plaque’ which is atheroma that has not yet calcified and which is the most vulnerable to rupturing and causing a heart attack.
This is the so called ‘widow maker’ lesion which cannot be visualised by any other means but is one of the most common causes of sudden death. It classically affects individuals who have few if any risk factors for heart disease and who appear, superficially at least, to be fit and healthy.
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